I thought "wow, a pretty good copy of R92a which catalogs $800 plus for $15 bucks. What a great deal. It almost seemed too good to be true. It was. I should have read the fine print.
This is what I received:
When I looked at what I got. Well lets just say I can't post what I said. I was a little angry, a little embarrassed and felt like I got the ole bait and switch.
I went back to the lot to see if I had somehow overlooked something. I did. Here was the description:
I guess this is what he means by a "minor variation". I just hope he holds true to his 100% customer satisfaction and allow me to return the item. At least I wasn't out much money, but nevertheless, a hard lesson learned. Caveat Emptor.
I would consider this borderline fraudulent, despite the fine print. This is not a "minor difference", it's a completely different stamp with a different catalog number.
"Stock photos are either for the ultimately lazy sellers or the unscrupulous, neither of which I have any time or patience for."
I use stock photos for low value modern material. I am neither lazy nor unscrupulous. Don't paint sellers like myself with the same tar bucket and brush that this seller deserves.
Of course. I think this seller is being totally dishonest and this is a very bad case of bait and switch. Hence my tar comment.
I just get frustrated by posters here who seem to think that every item, regardless of value, deserves a high resolution image of the front and back. Given the labor that goes into this effort, I assume that they are more than willing to pay top dollar for all of the stamps that they acquire. At minimum wage, what is the cost of scanning the front/back, uploading that photo, etc? Stock images allow sellers like myself to keep common material affordable. Of course non common material is always scanned at a high resolution, described conservatively with a no questions asked 100%(including S&H) return policy. The same sort of treatment I expect as a buyer of material with what I believe to be a reasonable set of expectations.
Bob - I would just add that what is common to one collector may not be so common to another if dollar value is a measure. Some folks can just write off a $10.00 stamp that has a problem while to others that $10.00 was much harder to expend on a hobby. Would I like great images no matter what? Absolutely Is it practical? No Ibam constantly amazed at the money people spend with Anthony's and NYStamps without good images. Heck, Anthony's usually does no back side images. Talk about a unfounded leap of faith.
I can understand why someone would want to use stock images. However, it still doesn't make it any less unethical. It doesn't matter if it is a high value stamp or low value modern material. If you are buying, you EXPECT to get the one you are looking at. What if a person is looking for a specific cancel or shade or grade. What may be unimportant to you may be quite important to another person. It isn't a question of money. The cost is basically your time you expend scanning and uploading. But if you are going to sell stamps in this way, I think that would be a necessary cost and time investment.
Look at it this way, Bob...most people would not buy from a dealer if they knew they were dealing with stock images. People always assume that what they receive will always be worse then what is shown. Doing it this way, will always HURT your business in my opinion. You are inadvertently eliminating potential buyers.
That being said, the only way I could agree with you is if you made it very obvious to the buyer that the pic shown is not what they are getting. For example, adding "STOCK PHOTO" to the pic, or putting it in the heading or calling attention to it in the description in some way. In other words, don't bury it in the minutia. And the stamp you send to the buyer should always be as good or better than the one shown. Don't show a gem and then send something with several faults.
Disclaimer: While a tremendous amount of effort goes into ensuring the accuracy of the information contained in this site, Stamp Community assumes no liability for errors. Copyright 2005 - 2022 Stamp Community Family - All rights reserved worldwide. Use of any images or content on this website without prior written permission of Stamp Community or the original lender is strictly prohibited. Privacy Policy / Terms of UseAdvertise Here
Posted 03/26/2019 9:45 pm
with all the above.
